Not Out of Time
by SageK
Summary: We need a fix after Destiny, don't we?
1. Chapter 1

The waves of energy emanating from the Oculus weren't as hot as Leonard expected. In fact, they were comfortingly cool as they crept up his arms, encircling his body as he stared down Druce and pack of mouth breathing minions. It wasn't that Leonard wanted to die, but he was willing to, willing to step in and give his life for his team, especially Mick, his oldest friend, and Sara, the woman he had let himself picture…something with.

He wasn't one to open himself up to that sort of entanglement, but it had been building for some time. He let himself like the others on the team, grow fond of them and, being around them all the time, he hadn't been able to keep them at arm's length. It had shocked him one day when he realized he really didn't want to…not that he was willing to say that to the others.

He had a reputation to maintain after all.

There was an odd sort of peace in this, he realized, in dying for something he believed in. Instead of a job gone wrong, this was his choice. He wouldn't be a footnote in the crime pages of a paper, wouldn't have a talking head make a point about the criminal son of a criminal...instead, he would die here, so far away from home. Mick would have to tell Lisa, but Leonard knew doing this was for her too….

As his vision went white, his only regret was not being around to see what happened next, not being there with his team…his friends, when they would eventually find and end Savage.

Cold.

Hot.

Bright.

Dark.

Fast.

Slow.

All.

"Ow."

Every part of his body hurt. Leonard felt like someone had beaten him with a spiked baseball bat before having him drawn and quartered. His vision swam as he blinked up at the night sky, pain lancing through him every time he breathed, every time he blinked.

What the fuck?

With a groan, Leonard sat up, a move that had him gasping for breath as his vision blurred and his

head swam. When he was able to focus, he looked around, realizing he was in a small park…McAster Park in Central City, of all places.

He had no idea how this was possible, how he had gone from choosing to die to cut the Time Masters off from the unfair use of Oculus and the next…he was here.

And what the hell was all that noise?

Though all he wanted to do was lay back down and hopefully pass out, Leonard dragged himself to his feet and staggered, grabbing a tree to hold himself upright. It took him a moment to realize he was looking out at a damn battleground in the middle of Central City. A mob of powered individuals were going up against a slew of CCPD's finest…but among the boys in blue were telltale signs Leonard recognized.

A Trio in flight, two with wide spread wings and the other firing blasts at someone hurled explosive bursts of energy.

A burning man bowled through a crowd while, while another man roared, armed with a weapon that spat flames.

A figure dressed in white and wielding a staff knocked foes off their feet left and right

The gleam of gold cutting someone down and the familiar streak of someone moving faster than was humanly possible.

Well, shit.

He wanted to curl up in a ball and figure out why he wasn't dead, but he couldn't stand by and not help his team, his friends….

With a grunt, he wrenched his cold gun from its holster and swung it up. A hulking Meta was stalking toward a cluster of nearby police officers, smirking as their bullets pinged off his shiny metal armor...no, that was his skin. That was different.

"Hey, Goomba Chrome, over here!"

Before the metal man even looked his way, Leonard squeezed the trigger, the cold gun firing it's chilling blast. It took a moment for the Meta to slow, but slow he did, finally stopping, iced over and still.

The police looked from the Meta, relieved, to Leonard, tensing. Rolling his eyes, he gestured to the frozen menace. "Well? Are you going to shoot him? He might defrost."

Two of the officers looked indecisive, but one, an older woman met his gaze for a moment, taking his measure, before nodding and turning, the huge Meta shattering as she fired.

That alone told him about what was happening. This was a full on war. They weren't taking any chances with the Metas. He, a known human criminal, was judged to be less of a threat.

Jumping (staggering with attitude) into the fray, Snart found himself battling side by side with the CCPD, a sure sign of something apocalyptic in nature. As the fight raged on, he notice more and more average citizens taking to the street, fighting for their city, armed with baseball bats, personal firearms and the occasional frying pan.

It was heartening, really, seeing the men and women of Central City fighting against these invaders. Raising his gun to take down something with way too many teeth that was going after a couple of kids who looked younger than Barry Allen, he snarled when the gun sputtered, battery in need of a charge.

As he rushed forward, figuring he probably had a hell of a lot more hand to hand training than a couple of kids, he shouted, trying to get the Meta's attention and tossed up a hand...and froze, in a manner of speaking.

A wave of icy cold burst from his palm, striking the Meta even as Leonard gaped at his own hand. Frost coated his arm up to the elbow, but he didn't feel the pain of frostbite, merely a slight chill and, flexing his hand, he found his mobility intact.

That...was unexpected, but helpful, he thought as he turned to toss an icy blast at another Meta.

By the time Zoom and his depleted forces retreated, Leonard was leaning against a pillar, breathing heavy, legs shaking. He felt drained, unused to...using his new abilities and the aftereffects of whatever had brought him here. He needed to sleep for a month, but first….

"LENNY!"

Lisa's shout echoed across the square and he looked up, vision swimming as he saw her running toward him, Mick and Sara close behind.

That was all he saw before the blackness overtook him…

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

The battle had been a hard one, but between the brave men and women of the Central City Police Department, Team Flash, Team Arrow, the welcome arrival of Team Arrow and a few others, they had prevailed. Or at least Zoom and his remaining cronies had retreated, their numbers depleted considerably.

And that wasn't even counting the Metas locked up in the cells below STAR Labs after Zoom's last invasion attempt.

"Everyone okay?" Barry asked into his comm as he approached Wally and Jesse, who were both looking a little shell shocked but elated. He felt responsible for the two new speedsters and they gave him a thumbs up as Cisco reported none of their friends had been badly wounded.

"Yeah," Wally said, eyes wide and a little winded, clearly getting used the whole speed thing.

Beside him, Jesse wore a similar expression. "We did it!"

Of course, that was when a scream tore through the air.

"LENNY!"

Lisa Snart's voice rang out across the plaza, drawing many a gaze. Her inclusion in the fight had been a surprise, but when she had shown up, eyes filled with sadness and anger after learning about her brother's death, none of them had the heart to turn her away. Plus, this was her world too, so she couldn't be faulted for wanting to defend it even if it was a little out of character.

Now, Lisa was running, flanked by Mick Rory and Sarah Lance, the other members of the Waverider crew not far behind. For moment, Barry was startled to see Leonard Snart standing by a pillar, clearly alive. He was gazing at his sister until he fell, a boneless sprawl on the pavement.

When Barry got to Leonard's side, he reached down and rolled the man onto his back. Yeah this was definitely Snart, who had died far in the future to save his friends. This was confusing... Unless he wasn't their Snart, but the Snart from Earth2.

Crap.

What if this Snart was one of Zoom's Metas? That would just break Lisa's heart to know that some incarnation of her brother had been trying to kill them and he was pretty sure Heatwave and White Canary wouldn't take it well either.

"He saved us," Sgt. Zoma said, from where she was standing a few yards away. "He's got powers, but he fought against the others..."

Okay, that was a relief.

"Lenny!" Lisa fell to her knees beside Snart, her wide eyes on his face. "Oh, God, it's... How? Is he okay?"

"What the hell?" Rory growled as he and Sarah skidded to a halt behind Lisa. "Can't be!"

Sarah simply put her hand over her mouth as she stared down at the prone man.

"What's happening to him?" Lisa asked, voice full of fear and Barry glanced down.

Blue, crackling energy coursed over Snart's body and he... flickered a bit, like he was going out of phase. Lisa's hand rested on his chest though, so he was solid enough.

Reaching out, Barry placed a hand on her shoulder and promised, "We'll get him back to STAR Labs and figure this out."

* * *

"To be honest, I've never seen anything like these readings," Cisco said, sounding a little too enthusiastic about the puzzle. That earned a rumbling growl from Mick and he hurried to add, "I can't tell you that his resonant frequency matches ours. He's from our earth, not Zooms."

"Which is a good thing," Barry hurried to assure everyone was used to Cisco's conversational style. "I mean we don't know how we got here, but he's supposed to be here on this Earth."

"Why isn't he waking up?" Lisa asked, shaking her brother's shoulder lightly. "Come on, Lenny!"

Caitlin looked up from where she was going over the results of the diagnostic she had run upon their return.

"He appears to be in perfect health. We just have no idea what this energy is," she said with a puzzled look. "It's...different than anything I've ever come across, but closest to the readings we got on Barry right after he was first struck by lightning."

"According to the officers on scene, he wasn't moving fast," Joe said from where he stood amongst the crowd that had gathered in the Lab. "He was shooting ice out of his hands. Like that gun of his wasn't bad enough."

"His hands are warm," Sara said softly, looking down at the hand she was holding between her own.

"When Rip gets back, I'm sure Gideon will be able to tell us what's happening and wake him up," Ray said optimistically, patting Mick's shoulder in a friendly way.

It still shocked Barry that the big man accepted the touch, because he really didn't seem the type...but everyone said their adventures traveling through time had changed the Rogues….

A thought struck Barry and he glanced over at Jesse. When she had been hit by the Speed Force and in an unexplained coma, he'd woken her with a touch. Out in the plaza, he'd had his gloves on when he'd moved Snart, but now.

Before Caitlin, Cisco or Wells could realize what he was doing and tell him it was a bad idea, Barry stepped to the clear side of the Bed Snart was laying on and grabbed the thief's free hand. For a moment, all he felt as a little shock...but then everything went blinding white…..

* * *

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

For a long moment, all Barry could see was the painfully bright white light surrounding him. He threw his hands up, trying to cover his eyes, but the glare seemed to flow through them without dimming. Soon though, the blinding light faded and he blinked, turning in a slow circle.

The slightly hazy warm look of things reminded him of the Speed Force and he looked around, trying to get his bearings.

"Really?"

Barry spun when the familiar voice spoke from behind him. "Snart!" He exclaimed, a smile breaking out on his face. "I'm glad that worked...though I was kind of hoping you'd just wake up."

Snart raised a brow. "You're making even less sense than your last incarnation."

"What...Oh! No, I'm not the Speed Force! It's me, Barry."

"Sure you are."

Putting his hands on his hips, Barry said, "I am...look, if you've met the Speed Force you know it's all cryptic and...Yoda like. I'm not. I'm just here to bring you back."

Eyes narrowed critically, Snart peered at Barry, one hand clasping the opposite elbow as his free hand has raised to chest level, fingers curling. During their encounters, Barry had noticed that the thief had a tendency toward that sort of behavior, pulling his hands into his torso almost protectively when he was in thought.

"Come on," Barry said, extending one of his own hands toward Snart. "Your sister is freaking out back at STAR Labs. Your partner and Sara Lance and the others from the Waverider are pretty shook up too. They all thought you died!"

That made Snart chuckle. "I thought so too."

"Heard you sacrificed yourself for them."

"Well…," he replied, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. "Maybe I decided to give being a white hat a shot."

"You succeeded," Barry told him. "They survived and took out Savage. Showed up in time to help us take on Zoom and his army...which was when you popped up again."

"That actually happened?" Snart asked, hand circling. "Did I…?"

"When the Oculus exploded, you absorbed a massive temporal pulse."

Barry and Snart turned as one to face the source of the voice, finding someone (or something) who had taken on the appearance of Rip Hunter. Barry knew it was an avatar of the Speed Force and from Snart's behavior he was pretty sure the thief had come to the same conclusion.

Before either of them could speak, the Avatar continued, "The shock of it threw Mr. Snart into the time stream, adrift. It also activated a previously latent meta human ability to generate and control ice, a result of the same particle accelerator explosion that gifted you with your speed, Mr. Allen. The Oculus's explosion was his lightning, as it were."

"Why didn't I die at the Vanishing Point?" Snart questioned. "Why did the explosion not kill me?"

The Avatar motioned toward Snart's hand. "Your hand was regenerated not long before. The cells were still in flux and in such close proximity to the Oculus, they began taking in large quantities of temporal energy the moment you reached into the chamber. Thus, your body had...aligned itself with the Oculus when it went critical. Your consciousness was shocked so it took some 'time' for you to focus enough to direct yourself back to your own era."

Snart was quiet for a moment before he grumbled, "Temporal mechanics give me a headache."

"Same," Barry agreed, making Snart look at him. "I go fast enough, I can travel through time."

"Time travel without a ship. I'm sure Rip was curious about that," Snart drawled.

"Nah," Barry replied with a shrug. "He was more interested in the hopping between universes...Did you know you're the mayor on another Earth? And in one universe National City is protected Supergirl, a powerful alien who looks human and works as an EA at a media giant. She's really something."

Snart tipped his head to the side. "You don't do well with keeping secret identities, do you? I'm never telling you who Batman is."

"You know Batman?" Barry asked, eyes wide. Then he frowned. "She's in another universe anyhow. It's not like I told you who the Green Arrow is."

"No, I know who Batman is. Honestly, it's not hard to figure out," Snart said with a smirk. "And Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow."

 _How the heck did he know that?_ Barry thought, but before he could ask, the Speed Force Avatar spoke.

"I believe the two of you are due back to your plane of existence about now," he said, seeming to dismiss them.

That was a change from the last time he had been here, but Barry wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Let's go," he said to Snart, holding out his hand again...and this time the master thief reached out to grab it.

White flared around them once again….

"What the hell is happening!"

Barry blinked, hearing Lisa Snart's voice ringing out, loud amongst the chatter of other voices.

"Barry knows what he's doing," Cisco was assuring her and Barry was pleased his friend was sticking up for him. "I hope."

Oh.

"Mick, put Wells down."

Snart's voice was clear, if a little rough and Barry looked over to see Mick Rory holding Wells up against the wall, his hands fisted in the man's shirt. Everyone was packed into the lab, clearly having been caught in the middle of an animated discussion, all talking halting at Snart's words.

"I told you Barry would bring him out of it," Cisco said breaking the silence and giving Barry a grin.

The sound of his voice made all hell break loose and Barry was shuffled aside as Lisa, Team Legends and Caitlin converged on the bed.

TBC…..


End file.
